This little amazing living things called the kefir grains can change the nutrients in your kefir by simply changing their fermentation time.
Folic acid is arguably one of the most important components in the kefir you can easily change by longer fermentation.
Downside is, you have to put up with a more sour taste.
However the benefits in the long term are huge, especially for pregnant women, or people with a leaky gut.

16 thoughts on “Folic acid content”

I have been interested in kefir now for some time but have not used it yet. I have some health issues like leaky gut, pathogens and genetic issues and need certain nutrients to keep things in balance (folic acid being one of them) and all the research I have done leads me to believe kefir could be helpful with all of these issues. I am also currently embarking on a nutritional balancing program that looks at what the body needs in a more precise way in the form of nutrients as I believe that it is the imbalance in nutrition today which is causing disease. Give the body what it needs and it will heal itself, starve it and it will get sick, but you must know what is missing and what it needs. I hope kefir will help with this rebalancing affect in my body. Can you use kefir if you have dairy and digestion issues, can it heal these issues?. I am also trying to put some weight back on and hope kefir might help with this also. I am able to purchase raw organic milk but am unable to find kefir grains anywhere, are you able to send me some?. I live in WA. Is there anything else that I must know about kefir before using it?.

Dear Nate,
my apologies for such a late reply, I was snowed under during the last few days, it is getting better lately…
I am writing a more ellaborate reply for your good self, as you ask me a few challenging questions.
I wanted to make sure I get the things right, and I also wanted our other kefir buddies to benefit from that.
My milk kefir grains are still not well, however I’ll check them tonight and see if I can spare a few.
There are quite a few people on my waiting list, so I have to contact them individually to see if they can wait a few more days.
I’ll be in touch with you soon.
My best regards,
Marius

That’s alright Marius, I hope I haven’t asked too many questions. I have a compromised digestion and immune system, an unhealthy liver/gall bladder and pathogens like Lyme disease and am wondering if kefir can help as I have read some articles that says it can. I am also interested to know what else you do for good health as I am always wanting to learn old and tested ways. It is so confusing today about what’s actually good for your health and what’s not.

Hi Nate,
I have finally managed to get back to your latest message, it is quite a challenge you raised here, thank you for that, it is much appreciated.
It really got me thinking about things we do wll, and also things we should improve in our lives.
I will try and share with you a few of the positive things I myself believe to have contributed to my grandparents’, as well as my parents’ long and healthy life.
They are things we try to do ourselves, and we also try to teach our child to do them:
– #1 Think positive – the law of attraction works 100% of the time
– Stay close to nature as much as possible. We go for long walks down the beach as often as we can (at least once a week), we spend half a day every second week in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens, we started going for bike rides at least once a week, and we also spend time almost every day weeding our veggie patch, feeding our chooks, playing with the cats, cleaning flower beds, prunning trees, picking fruit or elderberry flowers, anything that keeps us outdoors.
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT though, we also try and stay away from pollution as much as possible, which include busy roads. There’s absolutely no point in riding our bikes or go for walks and inhale diesel fumes.
– We try and eat as much un-processed food as possible
– My lovely wife cooks every single day
– We try and eat as much organic food as possible
– We try and eat as much raw food as possible
– Try and eliminate sugar from the diet. Refined sugar is a POISON for the body
– We completely eliminated alcohol consumption in our house (quitting smoking took place about 15 years ago)
– Working on the coffee, but I cannot promise anything :o)
– Milk kefir and Kombucha are part of our daily diet
I’ll keep thinking about it, you asked me quite a challenging question.
If you don’t mind, I’ll come back to your it.
All the best to you, will be back in touch soon.
BTW, I can send you now some grains, if you still need them.
I’ll send you my address where you can send me a pre-paid, pre-addressed enevelope for that.
Marius

Also important is the TYPE of folates that Kefir contains. A large ( up to 50%) proportion of the folate is methyltetrahdrofolate… this has already been converted to the active form, so it gives your liver a rest. This is especially important for those of us with mthfr gene mutation, which brings your folate conversion in the liver right down. The next most plentiful form is formyltetrahdrofolate, folinic acid, which is also beneficial for this.

It is suspected that over 30% of the population have this problem… which is why we’re all sick despite doing all the healthy things. Apparently the folate they shove in all the breads, cereals and vitamins is the unconverted form, which is useless in people with conversion issues, and can build up to toxic levels. This is partly why there are still plenty of kids born with neural tube defect issues…Mum isn’t getting the right TYPE of folate.

It’s not a big money spinner for the big pharmaceutical companies, so it’s kept fairly quiet. I had to do hours of digging in obscure medical research papers to come up with that much… it’s not funded or ‘approved of’ because they won’t be able to charge sick people to death… and we all know that’s what they love!

Kefir is great anyway… giving your liver a break is never bad.
A second fermentation makes these folates increase to massive levels… a very good thing. It is also a huge benefit for those with Pyroluria as well, containing all those nutrients.

Do you know of anyone who uses kefir for these specific genetic issues or are you able to reference where your information has been gathered from?. I am also wondering if kefir is good or bad for candida issues, does anyone know?. It seems to be very controversial. Cheers.

Hi Nate and thanks for opening the discussion on more complex issues, I hope Jaya will get back to us sooner rather than later.
My take on candida and kefir: the healthier the gut, the more chances to succeed in treating candida. The general opinion is that the urinary and digestive system contaminate each other due to their proximity.
I admit the information regarding treating candida with kefir is all over the place, and that it is very anecdotal. Most people use kefir as an aid to some other type of treatments, antibiotic or otherwise.
What I have to stress again is the living proof that no other bacteria (not even candida, perhaps?) can survive the kefir grains in the milk at room temperature, which I find amazing.

Hi Nate, the milk kefir grains originate in sheeps’ stomachs, aparently they are one of the few bacteria colonies that can make it through our aggressive digestive track all the way into the small intestine. This is the very reason I encourage my kefir buddies to also drink some grains with the kefir as often as they can, ie when they get enough of them.

Yes, I do know someone who uses kefir for these specific genetic issues…me! And my mother… I actually started using kefir for the probiotics, as the pyroluria and mthfr issues had left me with what my doc and I suspected was a leaky gut.

Those issues cleared up almost immediately, but over the next few weeks I had radical improvements in other areas that had only been improved to a certain point by the supplementation protocol. Hence the reason I started digging for more info on kefir. I will turn up the relevant folate study, I have it somewhere, and then send it along if you like, or post the link.

As for candida, I have heard that some people have bad reactions as the candida starts dying and flooding the system with toxins, but have had improvement afterward.

I have also heard that it has not been successful in all instances, but I am unaware of the specifics, as it was all secondhand info, and I did not witness the events.

My personal opinion would be to try it, because you don’t have much to lose from a small trial, however, I can’t suggest anything per se, as I have no medical training. I’ll be happy to see if I can locate any research papers on the subject, and get back to you here in the next week or so.

For me, kefir has given me the helping hand to go from my ”holding pattern” to something closer to wellness.

I felt compelled to jump in with the folate issue, because I’d just read that research in depth… in fact, after I gave her the paper, my doc asked me for some kefir grains, lol.

I hope you have some improvements with your issues, and I’ll get back here as soon as I find out anything relevant.

Thanks a lot for that. I’m someone who likes to know someone else has used it and had success and hear it from them rather than it being anecdotal evidence. I also have Lyme disease and other genetic issues like CBS so things get a little complicated unfortunately. I am someone who researches a lot and I also do not want to depend on supplements my whole life. Counting on some company to manufacture things that keep me well just doesn’t sit well with me, I’m all about finding alternatives that I myself can create.

I am currently on a nutritional balancing program by a Dr Larry Wilson, check out his website and if you put his name and anything else that you want to know about into a search engine you’ll find an article written by him on it, and I mean anything, it doesn’t even have to be related to things of a physical health nature. I’d like to know your thoughts. He does advise on a specific supplement program etc and detoxification is high on the list as well.

I’d like to contact you via email and find out what you’ve done that’s helped you with your health. I will let Marius know that it is alright to pass my email address onto you if you contact him.

I looked up Dr Wilson, very interesting.
As for east meets west that he talks about, half my family is Indian, so I was brought up with all the techniques of meditation and mindfulness etc etc, but without religion coming into it, so I can’t comment on that. I just skimmed, but it seemed like too much work to sort the wheat from the chaff, so I didn’t look too closely.

I looked up CBS and thought that was fascinating… I bet you don’t feel that way about it! I did read somewhere about a connection between Lyme disease and pyroluria, but I don’t remember much about that. It might be worth it for you to investigate. Kryptopyrroles is not a medicare test, however… about $100 ish if I recall? But you’d want to find out a lot more info before going that far.

I have to be on supplementation forever… I have no choice, as the amounts I require are simply not found in nature. I found that kefir was a useful boost to my supplements, and was helping other ‘undiscovered/unaddressed’ things as well.

Kefir is a great all round tonic. I prefer to go natural when I can, and I’m on a great herbal tisane regimen for my adrenal exhaustion, but sometimes you gotta go with the science.
Not all science is bad, not all nature is good, y’know?

Anyway, I’m glad I never had kids… the mthfr is manageable in a natural lifestyle, but the pyroluria isn’t, so it wouldn’t be a viable genetic vector if the world went to rack and ruin tomorrow, and supplements weren’t available… the buck stops here! Detoxification doesn’t happen well with both my conditions, so my life has to be as chemical free as possible. I store everything in glass and avoid plastics wherever possible.

I’ve always been a herbal girl… if you can get a copy of the old ‘Back to Eden’ by Jethro Kloss, that might help some. There is a lot of silly stuff in there, but a lot of gold as well. I went from having tonsilitis 1-3 times a year to none at all after that book told me about sage tea, and a few things besides, it might help. I love my Swedish bitters, as well.

I never found kombucha did much for me, but I found it a lovely beverage… especially when flavoured with elderberry… you have to do the whole tedious trial and error, until you find what’s right for you.

The best lead on how I keep well that I can give is, grow your own or go organic where possible.
Avoid pesticides if you can, and never use any product containing triclosan.
Make a conscious decision to chill-ax when the bad things/times are happening, they’ll happen no matter if you start being stressed or not, so don’t be stressed. You can handle it all, or else how did you get this far? Give yourself a break.
Read everything you can, but make your own decision about how valuable the info is… not everything is as valid as it’s presented to be. Bring your powers of objective analysis to the fore, that will serve you better than all the advice in the world.
Not everything is going to work for everyone so don’t look for miracles, that way it’s nicer when they happen. Don’t trust all doctors, they are only human… I have a great doctor, who does make mistakes… you have to be aware of the fiddly details about your conditions… even the best doctors can only be your advisors. Don’t be afraid to read medical papers, they’re not that difficult. HOWEVER, be aware of scientific procedure and how well the researchers applied it, they are human too. Knowledge is power, it’s your life, you deserve to know.

These are the things I tell myself all the time, and it works for me. I don’t think I can help you much, because our problems are so very different, ergo our body chemistries are probably just as different. However, I do believe most people can get at least some relief from many problems by addressing the gut. It can only make you feel better if these gut issues can be safely dealt with.

I have a very mild high-functioning autism, and that has improved a lot with kefir… I don’t become as distressed when things aren’t the way they ‘ought’ to be…tryptophan again!

All of which is to say, I still keep researching my conditions, at least once a month to see what’s new, and I’m ever so grateful for the internet, even though it’s ‘user beware’.

That’s really all there is to it for me… ten zillion tablets a day, some research, an ‘it could have been worse, and I’m grateful it’s not’ attitude, and the herbal helpers I’ve found.

I wish you all the best, and I hope there are some solutions around the corner for you.
I’ll post again if I find anything relevant to your situation and kefir.

Hi Jaya and thank you a for such a great post.
Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
I am certain I will be often referring to your post in the future.
My best regards and all the best to you and your health.
Marius

Oh, I forgot to mention, kefir also contains a beneficial form of vitamin k, not found in leafy greens, which is helpful in retaining calcium and other bone building co-factors in the skeleton and teeth… my teeth had started to go translucent, but they have now become opaque again… it’s just so full of things that are good for you.

For pyroluria it’s especially good, as it’s full of tryptophan, which is calming to the nervous system… it seems to me that that would be beneficial to most ‘disease’ states, no matter what the cause.
I tend to get eczema if I have dairy, but I have no problem with kefir. I also have a mild gluten sensitivity, however I have no problem if I soak my flour in kefir, or kefir whey… the bacteria and yeasts break down the protein bonds and blow them apart into their component amino acids, therefore eliminating the problematic molecular structure of the protein in question.

I soak everything like that now. It’s a real pain, especially since I hate cooking, (a waste of time when I could be doing something interesting!), but I’d rather feel well, than not. 🙂

Thanks for your reply. The reason why I asked you what you were doing is like yourself I am always interested in new information and what others might be doing as I am always willing to learn. I also have MTHFR and pyroluria as apparently many Lyme sufferers do, I have also been told I have a mild form of homocystinuria.

The reason why I asked you and the reason I found myself on this website was because I am searching for a better way to do things, a more self sufficient way, which in my eyes is most certainly better. I have gone down the whole million and one supplement path but it does not agree with me, it should not be that difficult or expensive or dependant on someone or something else and I knew it didn’t have to be.

This is how I came across Dr Wilson’s website and he mentions that a lot of these health issues, genetic issues, nutritional deficiencies and sickness represents itself because of toxins and heavy metals. If you detoxify yourself properly and nourish yourself correctly according to you as an individual then these other issues won’t be such a problem. I have some interesting links I’d like you to read if your interested and I have taken the liberty of sorting the wheat from the chaff for you. This ones about genetic issues and treatment http://drlwilson.com/ARTICLES/FOLIC%20ACID%20DEFECTS.htm and this ones about pyroluria and krytopyrroles specifically http://www.drlwilson.com/ARTICLES/PYROLURIA.htm.

I agree with a lot of what you say and am also following a similar health path to yourself. I am also glad I have not had children, however I believe that you can get yourself to a healthy state of being in mind, body and spirit and can have extremely healthy children as that is what will be passed down to them and I myself although I don’t believe that having children is the be all and end all and although I feel I would rather adopt a child first or at least try to because their are already to many parentless children in this world, I feel that having a child would be a beautiful and glorious experience and would bring me a little closer to understanding God, as I would have a new found love and respect for life, which is already fairly deep but it would increase by ten fold no doubt.

I am an extreme believer in unity and of people coming together to help one another. Here’s an excerpt from a post I put up on Gumtree “The next stage in the evolution of this world is unity, if we can’t unite to help one another then we will bear the consequences and if we don’t adapt to the change around us we will continue to suffer in some way. If it’s not happening now then it will happen sometime in the future, and if not your generation it will be the one after you.” If your interested to read the whole post here it is http://www.gumtree.com.au/m-my-ad.html?adId=1040531892.

I am not sure if Marius will allow these links and I apologise if I am not allowed to post them but I am simply sharing information and who I am so hope that’s alright Marius. I would also like to know if kefir is alright for someone to take if the have pancreas issues as I have read dairy might not be so helpful but I do my own research too and ask people who might have some information or an experience to share with me that might help and might be even more relevant to me, like both Marius and Jaya have. Thank you to the both of you.

Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier.
As for the site of the info on ”what types of folate are present in kefir”, if you google the exact phrase between the quotes one of the hits that comes up is from the ‘researchgate’ site. That will link you with the research download. Sorry not to give you the exact link, but my silly self is learning 8.1 on my surface, and still haven’t totally got the hang of it. It keeps taking me to the download, instead of letting me copy the link.

I agree that detoxing is the way, but I believe supplements are necessary for at least 2yrs due to the fact that your detox pathways include the gut, and one is in effect re-poisoning oneself during this process, and the amount of minerals required to bind the toxins are not found in natural foods unless you ate wagon loads (literally!).

Having said that, I find that it’s horses for courses, to a large degree. There are millions of other genes that play a part in each individual’s chemistry, that we still know nothing about. Unless I can live in a stone and mud hut and have a mini farm away from all pollution, simple detoxing doesn’t cut it. I have to supplement. It’s basically that, or do the ‘boy in the bubble’ thing. At one stage I was so allergic, I was reacting to my own sebum. I had no zinc layer in my lungs, so if I stood near someone with perfume I had what everyone thought was asthma attacks. That was so fun, I just can’t tell you how glad I am for supplements!

I’m sorry to hear you got slugged with my problems as well as Lyme and CBS gene – that methylation pathway is a cow… I believe there are differences between genetic pyroluria, and pyroluria caused by infection/illness. Mine is genetic; I believe I heard that the one caused by severe illness can be almost reversed by simply treating the oxidative stress issue, although that helps immensely with the other as well.

Pyro is in the porphyria group of blood disorders, and my paternal grandma had that. My mother has pyro as well… ain’t life grand?

I’m sorry, I have no idea about pancreatic issues, hopefully someone else can weigh in here.

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